System and Method of Tracking Salvaged Vehicles and Parts Using RFID Tags

ABSTRACT

A system and method of tracking salvaged vehicles using RFID tags is disclosed. The method includes creating a record of a vehicle, where the record includes information associated with the vehicle. The method further includes assigning an RFID tag to the record associated with the vehicle, attaching the RFID tag to the vehicle, detecting the RFID tag using a first interrogator, and determining a new geographic location of the first interrogator contemporaneously with detecting the RFID tag. In addition, the method may include recording video of the vehicle, where the video includes a video record of each time when the vehicle is moved. The method includes assigning the new geographic location of the RFID tag when the RFID tag is no longer detected by the first interrogator and updating the record with the new geographic location of the RFID tag and the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/138,463 filed Dec. 12, 2008. The disclosure of the provisionalapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to a system and method oftracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags.

BACKGROUND

Various radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) tag devices have beenused in tracking systems in the past and are currently in use. A typicalsystem includes an RFID tag that provides non-volatile memory forstoring information and a means well known in the art for interactingwith an interrogator (or reader). The RFID tags may contain identifierinformation associated with the particular objects to be tracked and areattached to the objects.

The RFID interrogator is used to detect the presence of an RFID tag andto read the information stored on the RFID tag. A typical RFIDinterrogator includes an RF transceiver for transmitting interrogationsignals to the RFID tag and receiving response signals from RFID tags.The interrogator also includes one or more antennae connected to thetransceiver and associated decoders and encoders for reading and writingthe encoded information in the received and transmitted RF signals,respectively. After detecting a RFID tag attached to an object, aninformation processing unit associated with the interrogator determinesthat the object is present, and updates a database accordingly.

In addition, a global positioning system (“GPS”) may be integrated intothe system to identify a geographic location of the RFID tag whendetected. The geographic location may also be stored in the database.However, the prior art RFID systems do not have the ability to backfeedthe geographic location information to an existing inventory managementsystem by correlating x-y boundaries to a row-slot storage numberingsystem often used in the salvage vehicle industry.

It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementionedproblems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention isdirected.

SUMMARY

In a particular embodiment, a method of tracking salvaged vehicles andparts using RFID tags is disclosed. The method includes creating arecord of a vehicle, where the record includes information associatedwith the vehicle. The method further includes assigning an RFID tag tothe record associated with the vehicle, attaching the RFID tag to thevehicle, detecting the RFID tag using a first interrogator, anddetermining a new geographic location of the first interrogatorcontemporaneously with detecting the RFID tag. In addition, the methodmay include recording video of the vehicle, where the video includes avideo record of each time when the vehicle is moved. The method includesassigning the new geographic location of the RFID tag when the RFID tagis no longer detected by the first interrogator and updating the recordwith the new geographic location of the RFID tag.

In another particular embodiment, the method includes backfeeding thenew geographic location to an existing inventory management system andcorrelating the new geographic location to a row-slot storage numberingsystem. The method may further include detecting the RFID tag with asecond interrogator, where a current geographic location of the secondinterrogator is determined contemporaneously with detecting the RFIDtag. In addition, the method includes assigning the current geographiclocation of the second interrogator to the RFID tag when the secondinterrogator no longer detects the RFID tag, comparing the currentgeographic location of the RFID tag to the stored geographic locationfor the RFID tag, and updating the record associated with the RFID tagwith the current geographic location when the current geographiclocation does not match the stored geographic location for the RFID tagwithin a pre-determined tolerance.

In another particular embodiment, a system of tracking salvaged vehiclesand parts using RFID tags is disclosed. The system includes an RFID tagattached to a vehicle, a database to store data associated with the RFIDtag, where the RFID tag is associated with the vehicle, a firstinterrogator secured to a first mobile platform to detect an identity ofthe RFID tag, a navigation system in communication with the firstinterrogator, where the navigation system determines a currentgeographic location of the first mobile platform, a signal transmittedto the database, where the signal includes the identity of the RFID tagand the current geographic location of the first mobile platform and thevehicle. The first mobile platform may have more than one interrogator,which may be placed anywhere, for example, on the left side, right side,or any combination thereof. The interrogators each include an antennathat emits radio waves and the RFID tag responds by sending back itsdata. The database may record the current geographic location of thevehicle associated with the RFID tag when the first interrogator nolonger detects the RFID tag (i.e., moves out of range). The systemfurther includes a graphical user interface (“GUI”), where the GUIaccesses the database and references the data associated with the RFIDtag and the vehicle and the GUI displays the last recorded geographiclocation of the vehicle. In addition, the system includes a secondmobile platform, where a second interrogator is mounted to the secondmobile platform. Similar to the first mobile platform, the second mobileplatform may have interrogators placed anywhere, for example, on theleft side, right side, or any combination thereof.

The database may include historical information of the movements of thefirst mobile platform. The system may also include a video cameramounted to the first mobile platform to record video images of thevehicle. Further, the system may include a second signal to transmit tothe database, where the second signal includes the identity of the RFIDtag and the current geographic location of the second mobile platformand the vehicle when the second interrogator no longer detects the RFIDtag. The last recorded geographic location of the vehicle and thecurrent geographic location of the vehicle may be averaged to determinea more accurate geographic location of the vehicle when the vehicle hasotherwise not moved. The system may include a global positioning systemto determine a current geographic location of the first mobile platformand a compass directional finder, where the compass directional finderdisplays a relative position and distance of the vehicle from the firstmobile platform.

Other aspects, advantages, and features of the present disclosure willbecome apparent after review of the entire application, including thefollowing sections: Brief Description of the Drawings, DetailedDescription, and the Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of amethod of tracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of amethod of updating a record associated with a RFID tag;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of arow-slot storage system in accordance with the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of system oftracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags;

FIG. 5 is a representation of a GUI display showing a record of a firstvehicle in accordance with the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a representation of a GUI display showing a graphical displayof a lot indicating locations of vehicles on the lot;

FIG. 7 is a representation of a GUI display used to select an auctionsale in accordance with the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a representation of a GUI display used to locate a selectedvehicle on the lot in accordance with the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a representation of a GUI display showing data related to thelocation of the interrogator and RFID tags in accordance with the methodof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a generalcomputer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is related to locating and tracking salvaged vehicles andassociated parts through the use of RFID tags. An RFID tag is attachedto a vehicle before it enters a facility such as a salvage yard. Acomputer system is used to store identification data associated with theRFID tag in a database, where the identification data is correlated withvarious other pertinent information related to the vehicle. A front-endloader includes an RFID interrogator that automatically reads the RFIDtag when moving a vehicle to a designated location. When the RFIDinterrogator detects an RFID tag, a wireless signal is transmitted tothe computer system receiver indicating that the vehicle associated withthat particular RFID tag is being moved. The front-end loader includes aGPS navigation system that allows the computer system to track thelocation of the front-end loader as it moves the vehicle to thedesignated location. When the RFID interrogator no longer detects theRFID signal, then the computer system records the new location of thevehicle associated with that particular RHD tag to the database.

In operation, when a user desires to find a particular vehicle, thevehicle is queried by the computer system, which then accesses thedatabase and references the RFID tag associated with the vehicle anddisplays the last known location of the vehicle within the facility.

In addition, the system automatically verifies and updates periodicallythe stored location of the vehicle. This feature may be required forvehicles that have been moved under their own power or other meanswithout having an RFID interrogator in communication with the computersystem at the time of the move. The verification and updating may beaccomplished with the RFID interrogator mounted to the front-end loaderdetecting the RFID tag or a second RFID interrogator mounted to anothermobile platform such as a golf cart, utility vehicle, etc. that detectsRFID tags while traveling throughout the facility. The mobile platformalso includes a GPS navigation system similar to the front-end loader.In addition, the system may record movements of both the vehicle andfront-end loader (or other mobile platform with an RFID interrogator)and store the data in the database. The mobile platforms may haveinterrogators placed anywhere, for example, on the left side, rightside, or any combination thereof. The interrogators each include anantenna that emits radio waves and the RFID tag responds by sending backits data. The data includes separate historical information as to themovement of the front-end loader or other mobile platform and assists inmanaging subsequent damage analysis (e.g., intrasite loader-induceddamage), loader-movement efficiencies, etc. In addition, the system andmethod may include the ability of capturing live and recorded videoimages of the vehicle being transported by a permanently mounted cameraon the front-end loader. This is used to monitor operator and loaderoperations for vehicle damage. Further, the system has the capability ofbackfeeding location information to a company's existinginventory-management system by correlating x-y boundaries to acustomer's row-slot storage numbering system.

The system includes the feature of detecting RFID tags of vehicles thathave already been placed and sitting statically using a second scan. Anadvantage of the second scan is to verify that the previous scan wascorrect in recording the location of the vehicle. Further, this ensuresthat vehicles that may have been moved without the aid of a front-endloader have had its new location updated with the updated locationcoordinates. In the salvage auction business, the vast majority ofvehicles are disabled, and thus moved via the front-end loader. However,a smaller percentage of those vehicles can be operated normally and areoften moved around via the traditional method.

The second scan may be accomplished with the same front-end loadercapturing the initial placement location, or can be mounted to anothermobile platform (golf cart, utility vehicle, etc.) that randomly scanswhile traveling throughout the facility. In addition, multiple reads (orscans) may be made of the RFID tags in a few seconds as the RFID tagcomes within range. A weighted average of the multiple reads of aparticular RFID tag has the effect of providing a more precise locationof the vehicle.

Referring to FIG. 1, a particular illustrative embodiment of a method oftracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags is disclosed andgenerally designated 100. A record of a vehicle is created, at 102,wherein the record includes information of the vehicle. Continuing to104, a RFID tag is assigned to the record associated with the vehicle.Moving to 106, the RFID tag is attached to the vehicle. The RFID tag isdetected using a first interrogator, at 108. A geographic location ofthe first interrogator, at 110, is contemporaneously determined withdetecting the RFID tag. If a video option is selected, at 111, themethod may include recording video of the vehicle, at 113. The video maybe used for evaluation of damaged vehicles by providing the ability toview pick-up and drop-offs of vehicles by the mobile platform (e.g.,front-end loader). In addition, the video may be indexed and sorted toview video of any particular vehicle's events. Subsequently at 112, thegeographic location of the first interrogator is assigned to the RFIDtag. The record is then updated, at 114, with the geographic location ofthe RFID tag (and video). If there is an existing inventory managementsystem, at 116, then backfeeding the geographic location to the existinginventory management system is completed by correlating the geographiclocation to a row-slot storage numbering system, at 118.

A particular illustrative embodiment of a method of confirming thelocation of the salvaged vehicle or parts is illustrated in FIG. 2 andgenerally designated 200. At 202, an RFID tag is detected using a secondinterrogator. Once the RFID tag is detected, a current geographiclocation of the second interrogator is determined contemporaneously withdetecting the RFID tag, at 204. Continuing to 206, the currentgeographic location of the second interrogator is assigned to the RFIDtag. The current geographic location of the the RFID tag is compared, at208, to the stored geographic location of the RFID tag. If the currentgeographic location does not match the stored geographic location forthe RFID tag, at 210, then the record associated with the RFID tag isupdated with the current geographic location, at 212.

A diagram that illustrates the row-slot storage system is disclosed inFIG. 3 and generally designated as 300. The slots 302 are designated asthe numbers 1-9 as an example. The rows 304 are designated as theletters A-H, as an example. Accordingly, the row-slot location ofvehicle 306 is then identified as row F, slot 9. A interrogator may bemounted to a first front-end loader 402, forklift or other similar typeof equipment. A second interrogator may be mounted to a second mobileplatform (e.g., front-end loader) 403 to operate around the salvage yarddetecting RFID tags and moving vehicles. Any number of interrogators andmobile platforms (e.g., front-end loaders, forklifts, etc.) may be usedwith the method and system of tracking salvage vehicles and parts usingRFID tags.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a system of tracking salvage vehicles and partsis disclosed and generally designated 400. As an example, a front-endloader 402 includes an interrogator 404 that is used to detect RFIDtags. The interrogator 404 may detect (or read) an RFID within apre-determined range. Multiple reads may be made of the RFID tags in afew seconds as the RFID tag comes within the pre-determined range. Aweighted average of the multiple reads of a particular RFID tag has theeffect of providing a more precise location of the vehicle.

The RFID tag 406 may be located at the front of the vehicle 306 or anydesirable location. In addition, a global positioning system (“GPS”) 408may be mounted to the front-end loader 402 and in communication withsatellites 410. A transmitter 412 mounted to the front-end loader 402transmits data regarding a detected RFID tag to a receiver and database414. The transmitter 412 may also be used to transmit video of thevehicle 306 associated with the RFID tag 406.

A graphical user interface (“GUI”) 500, may be used to enter informationto create the record 102 of a first vehicle of the method of FIG. 1. Forexample, the record may include information of the stock number 502,vehicle make and model 504, color 506, location 508, VIN 510, status512, claim number 514, seller 516, date of delivery and arrival 518,buyer name 520, payment status 522 and pictures of the vehicle 524, orany combination thereof. Once the data has been entered and the recordcreated using the GUI 500, the system may be used to track the vehiclethroughout the facility by periodically receiving data from thetransceiver 412.

A graphical display 600 indicates the geographic zones 602 (i.e.,row-slot storage system shown in FIG. 3) that are back-fed to theauction inventory management system in a traditional storage-locationformat. In this particular illustrative embodiment, the locations of thevehicles 604 associated with a selected auction sale are shown with ahollow square box symbol. The front-end loader's location 606 isindicated by a solid square box symbol. A compass directional finder 608points in a relative position of the front-end loader to the vehicleselected and the straight line distance (e.g., 33.55 feet). The lowerhalf of the display 600 is a textual list of vehicles for auction sale,sortable by any field 502, 504, 506, 508, 522. The list of vehicles isgenerated by the user selecting the auction sale 702 using a GUI 704, asshown in FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 8, once a vehicle is selected, for example byentering an inventory stock number 502, the location of the selectedvehicle 802 is displayed on GUI 800. The front-end loader's location 606is shown in real-time. The compass directional finder 608 shows therelative position and distance of the selected vehicle 802 from thefront-end loader 606. Recorded video 804 or photographs of the selectedvehicle may be displayed for identification purposes, for evaluation ofany damage, or to view any events associated with the vehicle (e.g.,pick-up and drop-offs of the front-end loader).

FIG. 9 shows data related to the GPS location 902 of the interrogator.In addition, the speed 904 and heading 908 may be indicated. Variousinternal data management values such as buffer 910, VIT 912, data queue914, etc., may also be displayed. The identification of various RFIDtags is shown in the display 900, which corresponds to a particularvehicle.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the computer system 1000 may include aprocessor 1002, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), agraphics-processing unit (GPU), or both. Moreover, the computer system1000 can include a main memory 1004 and a static memory 1006 that cancommunicate with each other via a bus 1008. As shown, the computersystem 1000 may further include a video display unit 1010, such as aliquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel display, a solid-statedisplay, or a cathode ray tube (CRT). Additionally, the computer system1000 may include an input device 1012, such as a keyboard, and a cursorcontrol device 1014, such as a mouse. The computer system 1000 can alsoinclude a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generation device 1018, such asa speaker or remote control, and a network interface device 1020.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 10, the disk drive unit1016 may include a computer-readable medium 1022 in which one or moresets of instructions 1024, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, theinstructions 1024 may embody one or more of the methods or logic asdescribed herein. In a particular embodiment, the instructions 1024 mayreside completely, or at least partially, within the main memory 1004,the static memory 1006, and/or within the processor 1002 duringexecution by the computer system 1000. The main memory 1004 and theprocessor 1002 also may include computer-readable media.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, configurations, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, configurations,modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally interms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implementedas hardware or software depends upon the particular application anddesign constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM),erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium iscoupled to the processor such that the processor can read informationfrom, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative,the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor andthe storage medium may reside in an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside in a computing device or a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a computing device or user terminal.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosedembodiments. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope possible consistent with the principles andnovel features as defined herein.

1. A method of tracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags, the method comprising: creating a record of a vehicle, wherein the record includes information associated with the vehicle; assigning an RFID tag to the record associated with the vehicle; attaching the RFID tag to the vehicle; detecting the RFID tag using a first interrogator; and determining a new geographic location of the first interrogator contemporaneously with detecting the RFID tag.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording video of the vehicle, wherein the video includes a video record of each time when the vehicle is moved.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising indexing and sorting the video record.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning the new geographic location of the RFID tag when the RFID tag is no longer detected by the first interrogator.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising updating the record with the new geographic location of the RFID tag.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising updating the record with a video record of the vehicle.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: backfeeding the new geographic location to an existing inventory management system; and correlating the new geographic location to a row-slot storage numbering system.
 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising detecting the RFID tag with a second interrogator, wherein a current geographic location of the second interrogator is determined contemporaneously with detecting the RFID tag.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising assigning the current geographic location of the second interrogator to the RFID tag when the second interrogator no longer detects the RFID tag.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: comparing the current geographic location of the RFID tag to a stored geographic location for the RFID tag; and updating the record associated with the RFID tag with the current geographic location when the current geographic location does not match the stored geographic location for the RFID tag within a pre-determined tolerance.
 11. A system of tracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags, the system comprising: an RFID tag attached to a vehicle; a database to store data associated with the RFID tag, wherein the RFID tag is associated with the vehicle; a first interrogator secured to a first mobile platform to detect an identity of the RFID tag; a navigation system in communication with the first interrogator, wherein the navigation system determines a current geographic location of the first mobile platform; a signal transmitted to the database, wherein the signal includes the identity of the RFID tag and the current geographic location of the first mobile platform and the vehicle.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the database records the current geographic location of the vehicle associated with the RFID tag when the first interrogator no longer detects the RFID tag.
 13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a graphical user interface (“GUI”), wherein the GUI accesses the database and references the data associated with the RFID tag and the vehicle, and the GUI displays a last recorded geographic location of the vehicle.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first mobile platform is a front-end loader.
 15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a second mobile platform, wherein a second interrogator is mounted to the second mobile platform.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the database further comprising historical information of movements of the first mobile platform.
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a video camera mounted to the first mobile platform to record video images of the vehicle.
 18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a second signal transmitted to the database, wherein the second signal includes the identity of the RFID tag and the current geographic location of the second mobile platform and the vehicle when the second interrogator no longer detects the RFID tag.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the last recorded geographic location of the vehicle and the current geographic location of the vehicle are averaged to determine a new geographic location of the vehicle when the vehicle has not moved.
 20. A system of tracking salvaged vehicles and parts using RFID tags, the system comprising: an RFID tag attached to a vehicle; an RFID interrogator secured to a first mobile platform to detect an identity of the RFID tag within a pre-determined range; a global positioning system to determine a current geographic location of the first mobile platform when the RFID tag is detected; and a compass directional finder, wherein the compass directional finder displays a relative position and distance of the vehicle from the first mobile platform. 